A couple of underground water pipes have leaked in Salt Lake, near the stadium, triggering a drinking water crisis in several blocks of Sector III of the township.

The leaks were detected about three days back and the situation has only worsened by Sunday, engineers said.

One of the leaked pipes carries water from Salt Lake’s tank number 13 to blocks such as IA, HA, GC, IC and KD-KC. The leak has been detected under Broadway, which links the township with the EM Bypass near the Salt Lake stadium's gate number 3A.

A pool has formed on the artery, causing a large section of the asphalt to break and a crater to form.

The other pipeline has sprung a leak near the FE island, also under Broadway, triggering a road cave-in. A layer of brick and sand has laid to level the stretch but the rough edges of the bricks are posing a threat to motorists.

The Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation and the Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) have carried out repairs but the bricks still lie exposed. Engineers at the civic body said lead joints in the pipe network were springing leaks because they were not sturdy enough to handle high pressure over a prolonged period.

The joint near the stadium was supposed to be replaced with a mechanical one that employs steel gaskets and bolts to withstand high pressure of water, an engineer said. “But we could not do so because of a shortage of skilled labourers. Most of the labourers who specialise in jobs like this have gone home because of Covid-19,” he said.

“We had started work near FE Island as it was more critical. We had barely completed the repairs when another joint started leaking near the Salt Lake stadium and a crater formed there as well,” said the engineer.

Craters and potholes line the section of the road both near the FE island and near the stadium and are posing a safety threat to commuters.

“I have seen several bikers skid while taking turns. It is plain luck that no major tragedy has taken place yet,” said Pratyush Chatterjee, a businessman and resident of Salt Lake.

A scooterist skidded at the FE Block island crossing on the exposed bricks on Saturday.